Pumpkin(g) Jelly - His Royal Sweetness

I came across this probably a little extraordinary jelly when a dear friend had been to Portugal and gave a jar of bright-orange jelly to me, which I found extremly tasty but could not define until it was almost gone. Since then, I make pumpkin jelly (repeat: pumpkin jelly) every year at the peak of pumpkin season. My classic version is with lots of vanilla, but this year I made a special coconut edition on the side, which turned out to be pretty good too. If you want some sunshine on your October breakfast table, try this out, it is really easy (provided you're using a kitchen machine). Oh, and one last thing: I am all for reducing sugar, but this recipe needs all the sugar you can get (no 1:2 or 1:3 jelly sugar please, the pumpkin(g) needs all the sweetness he can get)

• Shred 1 kg/2lbs of Hokkaido pumpkin through the kitchen machine and mix it with 1 kg of jelly sugar. 
• Wait until the mixture produces enough fluid (allow up to 3 hours) 
• In the meantime, boil jelly jars and lids in hot water, careful, and leave them turned upside down on clean kitchen paper to dry. 
• In a next step, cook up the sugar and shredded pumpkin and, after 5 - 10 minutes of briskly boiling, puree with a stick blender. 
• Add plenty of vanillia sugar (the good one with brown spots) and put some jelly on a cold plate to see if it gets the right texture. Fill into jars and turn upside down on a tray to cool.

• For the coconut verstion, add one cup of coconut milk before the boiling part, and some shredded coconut after the pureeing. The photo below shows the special coconut edition.

• Enjoy with bread and butter, cream cheese or a young camembert.